Which is why, even though we celebrated Thanksgiving across town at the house of friends, Anton and I made our very own 19.5-pound bird the next day. This not only took the pressure off of us, since we didn’t have to present the bird in a gasp-worthy moment at the table, but it also netted us two gigantic tupperware containers of meat and almost 80 cups (that’s 20 quarts) of stock.  Most of that has gone straight to the freezer, but a goodly portion has gone to making soup, some incredible sandwiches, and excellent dinners that made use of pre-cooked poultry.  Because while I do love Thanksgiving dinner, it’s the week of leftovers that I really look forward to!

First off, the bird:

We went shopping the day after Thanksgiving to buy a roasting pan and rack, a gravy separator, a stockpot, and a probe thermometer (ours broke last week!).  We got a few odd looks for buying turkey-roasting equipment the day after the turkey was meant to be roasted, but we got everything we needed and all was well.

The recipe we use is Cook’s Illustrated Turkey for a Crowd.  It only takes about 3 hours, but requires you to flip the bird (hee hee) an hour into the roasting process to keep the breast juicy.  Last year this was an ordeal that required three people (thanks Jenny!) and dirtied every spatula in the kitchen and more than one towel.  This year, Anton discovered his turkey turners in a box and we managed the flip with ease!  We slightly undercooked it on purpose, so that the breast was perfect (perfect, I tell you!) but the thighs were still slightly raw.  After we took the rest of the meat off the bone, we nuked it in the microwave a little bit to finish it off.

For what we did with our embarrassment of turkey riches, check after the break:

Soup!

Making soup requires making stock, for which purpose we purchased a stockpot.  I didn’t really use a recipe for this, since I’ve been watching Mom do it for years.  Chopped up some carrots, onions, and celery and sauteed them for a few minutes until they started to brown, added all of the skin, bones, drippings, etc. and covered them over with water.  Threw in a few peppercorns, thyme, parsley, a sliced lemon, and I can’t remember what all else, simmered it for 3 hours, strained it, and then poured more water over all the stuff in the pot and did it again because I didn’t want to lose a single ounce of the good stuff.  7 of the 8 giant tupperware containers went directly to the  freezer and one to the fridge.

I have to share last year’s soup first since it’s one of my favorites: Lemon Turkey Soup with Fresh Spinach and Farfalle.  Anton wasn’t hugely fond of it unfortunately, so I didn’t make it this year, but I loved it.  It had lots of great, colorful vegetables, finished off with lots of bright green spinach and bow-tie pasta.

This year we made Turkey Sage Chowder.  Not quite as good as the lemon turkey soup, but very tasty anyway.  We cut the cream of potato soup (ew) and substituted more turkey stock.  Also added the last of August’s corn that I had stashed in the freezer and some frozen peas (about 1/2 a cup of each).  This was really satisfying, and we had a nice spinach salad with mandarin oranges, sliced almonds, and a balsamic vinaigrette on the side.  This soup had a high stuff to soup ratio, and a relatively thin broth (because we cut the cream of potato soup), which Anton prefers.

Another soup I should mention is from Food Network–Slow-Cooker Black-Bean Soup with Turkey–and we made it a few weeks ago with chicken instead of turkey.  I am slowly learning to like beans, and this was a great way to ease into them.  It was very tasty, with great flavor and texture.

Leftovers!

The first thing we made with our leftovers was Skillet Turkey Tetrazzini.  This link requires a subscription, so if you’d like my version of it, drop me a line and I’ll pass it on.   We served ours over egg noodles and topped it with some whole-wheat Ritz crumbs.  Scrumptious!

No post of mine would be complete without a recipe from Martha Stewart, of course.  Tomorrow night’s dinner will be Turkey and Sweet Potato Hash, and I’ll update later to let you know how it turns out.

And finally, SANDWICHES!!!

Is there anything better than an apres-Thanksgiving turkey sandwich?  I personally don’t think so.  While of course there’s the standard turkey and leftover cranberry sauce sandwich, we made a couple of other fantastic options this week:

When I was in college, the dining hall introduced a lunch-time panini bar.  It was ridiculously popular, and for good reason.  Every few weeks they would have a Smokehouse Turkey Panino: smoked turkey, maple bacon, caramelized onions, smoked gouda, and garlic mayo pressed and grilled.  We made our own version here, sans mayo and with apple butter instead, and it was better than I remembered.  Remember that bread I made a few weeks ago?  Everything tastes better on that bread.

The second best sandwich we’ve made included turkey, roasted red peppers, pesto, and mozzarella, toasted so that the cheese melts all over everything.  Why do I cook when I could just make sandwiches?

And finally, I got to make myself a turkey salad sandwich today.  Anton turns his nose up at anything mayo-based (which is probably good for me, too, but I do miss the mayo sometimes!), so lunch without him is a perfect opportunity to mix up a batch.  The beautiful thing about chicken or turkey salad is that you start with a base of poultry and mayo (or in my case, the preferred MiracleWhip), and just chuck whatever you’ve got in the fridge into the mix.  In this case, that included a handful of chopped celery, sweetened dried cranberries, a spoonful of caramelized onions, chopped walnuts, and the last slice and a half of bacon lurking in the back of the chill chest.  Stirred up it made enough for about two sandwiches, so I get to enjoy it again tomorrow.  Yum, yum, yum.

So what are your favorite ways to use up the leftover largesse after Turkey Day?

I am addicted to bread.

Not in an “oh yes, mother, I’d love a second slice of the wonderbread” kind of way, but the kind of addiction where if you sit me in front of a warm, crackly, really top-quality loaf, bad things will happen.  Like consuming the whole thing.

Which is almost what happened yesterday when I made Jim Lahey’s revolutionary No-Knead Bread.  The New York Times featured his recipe back in 2006, and I happily copied it into my recipe database.  I can’t believe I let it sit without making it for so long.

Anton and I started baking bread when we moved out to Montana, with some success (the challah especially turned out really well, and made great French toast).  But this is easily the best bread I have made, and I spent less time working on it than on any other loaf.  And I was skeptical.  I managed to use the wrong kind of yeast, too much salt, didn’t have the recommended baking vessel, and if you think our kitchen is ever going to get to the requisite 70 degrees, I should inform you that in our house “room temperature” is considerably below room temperature.

After mixing up the dough and letting it sit for 18 (!) hours, it looked like something you throw in the garbage.  But it made the house smell incredible, and the loaf (which I baked in a 9×9 pyrex dish with a tin foil “lid”), was perfect.  Artisan bakery-perfect.  Thin, crispy, crackly crust; moist, open, tender crumb; and the most incredible chew.  We ate half the loaf before it had cooled all the way, totally by itself.  Seriously, go make this bread now.  It requires a bowl and  a wooden spoon and a lot of patience.  You can not go wrong.

The entire point of making bread, was to use it as a base for Roasted Cod on Large Garlic Croutons, which I found on the RSS I follow that sends me healthy recipes from Epicurious.  Frequently I change a recipe a little, or wish I had when I see the finished results, but this is a winner.  Rub some brand-new toasted bread with a garlic clove; top with some lightly-cooked tomatoes, anchovies, and red onion; layer with fresh basil leaves; and top with a perfect piece of cod?  Sounds like heaven on a plate to me!

I would have discovered more ways to eat this, but we had some toast in the morning and nibbled throughout the day, and now there’s only two slices left, which we’re saving for breakfast tomorrow.  I’ll make it again, though, I promise!

(I’ve just discovered that Lahey has a book out!)

Indian food is a curious thing in Montana, by which I mean nonexistent.  The whole state appears to have just two Indian restaurants, neither of them within 200 miles of us here in Bozeman, which I think is a great tragedy.  A childhood of pseudo-curries (inauthentic but delicious!) leaves me craving the occasional Indian food, the way most people start to crave a rare steak (which is not to say that I do not also crave steak from time to time, it’s just a lot easier to obtain out here in ranch country).

And so we (I) decided that the time had come to attempt some really great Indian food.  My birthday present from Anton last year was an Indian cookbook by one of the legends, Madhur Jaffrey, and I picked up another great book before we left Chapel Hill, called It’s All American Food, about ethnic food in the U.S.  So I hitched up my pants and planned a week’s worth of menus.

My first observation is that good Indian food (at least what I made), is not fast, cheap, or easy.  Two of my recipes called for lamb, which is not easy to get or cheap when you can find it (solution: substitute cubed beef chuck), and the fastest meal we made this week required an hour and a half before we could finally sit down for fifteen minutes and polish it off.  These recipes were not written with the harried modern cook in mind.  Fortunately, being unemployed has its advantages, and I have plenty of time to stir Dilli ka saag gosht (Beef with Spinach) for two hours while it simmers on the stovetop.  The number of pots and pans that Anton washed this week merits a gold star, too.  I made at least three dishes every night, just for the heck of it.

We also used more spices this week than in all the time since I bought them: nearly a whole jar of cumin (ridiculous!), but also fennel seeds, celery seeds, cardamom pods, bay leaves, cinnamon, cloves, coriander, cumin seeds, curry powder, garam masala, cayenne, mustard seeds (both yellow and black), caraway, black pepper, turmeric, and vast leafy bunches of cilantro.  Even with all those spices, only one or two of our dishes turned out more than moderately spicy!

We made multiple varieties of rice dishes, all of them absolutely delicious, several varieties of cauliflower, multiple Indian breads, and all of it delicious.  Sadly, I don’t have digital copies of the recipes, but if there’s anything anyone wants a copy of, I could probably oblige you to transcribe it.

So, without further ado, our menu after the break:

Cod Baked in a Yogurt Sauce (Dahi wali macchi)
Green Beans with Fennel and Cilantro (Hare masale ki sem)
Mushroom Pullao
The consensus was that this was our least successful meal.  The green beans were my favorite part, and were incredible.  The Pullao (a pilaf, essentially) was a little gooey, and the fish was just so-so.  The sauce looked a little curdled after baking the yogurt, clumpy in some places and runny in others.  Fortunately, there were no leftovers of the fish, so I got to mix the green beans and pullao together for lunch the next day with incredible effect.

Lemony Chicken with Cilantro (Hare masale wali murghi)
Cauliflower with Fennel and Mustard Seeds (Baghari phool gobi)
Spiced Basmati Rice
I think my favorite part of this week was the vegetables.  In western cooking, you have only a few standard options for your vegetables: stir-fried or sauteed, steamed, roasted, or grilled, and they’re usually served very plainly, with a little oil, salt, and pepper.  Not so these incredible Indian veggies!  We sauteed them with all sorts of spices and they turned out to be incredible.  I wish I had bought more cauliflower so that I could have made more for leftovers!  This chicken was tasty, too.  We used bone-in, skinless thighs, but next time I think I would prefer drumsticks, which I find easier to eat!  This dish required almost a whole bunch of cilantro!

Shrimp Madras
Cabbage Curry
Rice and Peas (Tahiri)
According to It’s All American Food, “The language of old-fashioned Indian menus in American restaurants was a kind of code.  “Madras” this or “Madras” that didn’t tell you that the dish in question was an authentic creation from that great Indian city; it told you that your “curry” would have tomatoes in it.”  It certainly was delicious, and had a great smoky tomato flavor from simmering for so long.  The cabbage curry, alas, I did not follow the directions, and lo, I burned the bottom.  Fortunately, Anton will eat cabbage in nearly any form I serve it, so it was eaten and enjoyed, but next time I will follow my recipe and turn the heat all the way down to low.  Lesson learned!  Most of the rice dishes I made this week (and there were a lot!) called for the rice to be soaked for 30 minutes, then drained and cooked with less water than expected.  As someone who always struggles with rice (and has hinted at a rice cooker for Christmas), I was skeptical, but every single dish turned out exactly perfect.  Hallelujah!  I am a convert!  Every single grain of basmati was separate and fluffy and delicious.  No exploded grains, no sticky mess, no gloppy rice!

Shahi Korma (Beef in a creamy almond sauce)
Cauliflower with Potatoes (Phool gobi aur aloo ki bhaji)
Fragrant Indian Rice Pilaf
Naan
My first attempt at baking the naan I made looked more like an Italian stromboli sans filling, but my next two attempt actually turned out the right size, shape, and puffiness (albeit a little brown because I was doing the-meal-it-almost-ready-rush-around-the-kitche dance and left it under the broiler a little too long).  It tasted a little like pizza dough, too.  Not as flat or quite the same texture as restaurant naan, but also less greasy, and made a great scoop for the korma, which is one of my all-time favorite restaurant dishes (up there with Biryani), and this recipe (althought it required two hours simmering), was just incredible, silky and smooth and creamy and delicious.  There were no leftovers.  Ditto the cauliflower with potatoes, which I have equated with Indian-spiced smashed potatoes.  I have not been able to decide whether this or the Beef with Spinach meal was my favorite.  They will both go down in history.

Beef with Spinach (Dilli ka saag gosht)
Side Dish Dal
Paratha with Aloo Filling
Yogurt with Cucumber and Mint (Kheere ka raita)
The best meal of the week, in Anton’s estimation.  I think it’s because he was the prime mover on the paratha (an unleavened, filled bread), making the potato filling and cooking the finished bread on the stovetop after I filled it.  I certainly agree that the Beef was incredible (an entire pound of spinach! be still my beating heart!).  I am still figuring out how I feel about most pulses; these lentils were another attempt to decide my opinion.  Certainly they are not my favorite thing to cook (kind of boring), but these were pretty good, with a strong cinnamon flavor.  They were also easily the spiciest thing we ate all week.  There were lots of leftovers for this meal, which I didn’t mind, as I enjoyed them mightily over some leftover rice.

So that was our week of Indian delights.  The best lesson: biting into a whole cardamom pod is not tasty, but is more delicious than a whole clove.  Whole spices bite back!

I haven’t been able to parse Aji de Gallina yet, despite my passing knowledge of Spanish.  Aji means a chili pepper, and gallina is the feminine form of chicken.  So essentially “chili pepper of chicken”.  I’m not sure either.  But this dish does include both chicken and chili peppers, so I suppose it’s accurate.  It’s a very simple dish, just a pan-seared, oven-roasted chicken breast with a sauce seasoned with aji amarillo (yellow chili pepper) paste (which I had to make myself, South American specialty grocery stores being notoriously rare in Montana) and turmeric.  The sauce was really good in my estimation; much less spicy than I had thought it would be, which may be the fault of my bootstrapped paste.  The sauce was also good on the Tacu Tacu.

And what is Tacu Tacu, you ask?  It is a delicious combination of cooked rice, brown lentils, onions, and some seasonings, all tossed together and then fried to create lots of little brown crunchy bits to chew on.

You can view the epicurious recipes here:

Peruvian Rice and Lentils (Tacu Tacu)

Aji de Gallina (Chicken in Chili Sauce)

This meal was something of a leap of faith for me.  I had never made beans before, neither beans nor beets being anywhere near my list of foods I have traditionally enjoyed.  However, this being South American week and me wanting a vegetarian option, beans and rice it is.  The recipe came from Martha Stewart, and I was very pleased to discover that my tastes for both beans and beets have matured and I enjoyed the dish pretty well.  Anton has requested more beets in our diet from now on.  Both of us agreed that something was missing, but couldn’t quite put a finger on what.  It was decent, hearty vegetarian fare, but it may be that a sauce of some kind for the rice would be a good addition. I somehow managed not to dye my fingers red peeling and dicing beets, so that was enough to make me thoroughly satisfied with the meal.

BRAZILIAN BLACK BEANS AND RICE

INGREDIENTS:

• ● 3 medium beets, scrubbed and trimmed
• 1 bag (1 pound) dried black beans, rinsed
• Coarse salt and ground pepper
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled
• 2 tbsp. vegetable oil
• 1 scallion, thinly sliced, plus more for serving
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• Cooked rice, for serving
• lime wedges and shredded cheddar, for serving

DIRECTIONS:

1. In a 6-quart Dutch oven or other heavy pot, combine beets, beans, and enough water to cover; season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil; reduce to a simmer, and cook until beets are tender, 45 minutes to 1 hour (add more water to cover, if needed).

2. Transfer beets to a bowl; when cool enough to handle, peel and dice. Continue to cook beans until tender, about 1 hour more; pour off any excess liquid.

3. Finely chop garlic, and sprinkle with salt. Using a chefs knife, press a flat side of blade back and forth across garlic to make a paste. In a small skillet, heat oil over medium; add garlic paste, scallion, and cilantro. Cook, stirring frequently, until scallion has softened, 2 to 4 minutes.

4. Stir scallion mixture into beans; cook over medium until flavors have blended, about 5 minutes. Serve beans and beets over rice, topped with scallion and cheddar, with lime wedges alongside.

Moqueca was also courtesy of It’s All American Food, by David Rosengarten.

MOQUECA

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 tbs. vegetable oil
• 1 small onion, peeled and finely chopped
• 2 large garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
• 1/2 green bell pepper, seeded and finely chopped
• 1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and finely chopped (or more to taste) (I removed the ribs, too, which is where most of the spiciness is)
• 1 medium tomato or 3 roma tomatoes, finely chopped
• leaves from 1 sprig thyme (or 1/4 tsp dried thyme(
• 1 (13 1/2-ounce) can lite unsweetened coconut milk (the recipe doesn’t originally call for lite coconut milk, but I used it because a non-lite can of coconut milk has about 850 calories in it, while a can of lite milk has only 315.  You probably lose some of the richness, but I didn’t find myself minding)
• 1 pound firm-fleshed fish, such as cod, boneless, cut into 1-inch cubes
• 1 tbs. dende oil (a rich orange oil from the African palm; I couldn’t find it here in Montana, so I just left it out.  Again you probably lose some of the intended richness, but it was good enough without it)
• 1 cup loosely packed roughly chopped cilantro leaves

DIRECTIONS:

1. Heat the vegetable oil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat and add the onion.  Cook until soft, about 7 to 8 minutes, then add garlic, bell pepper, and jalapeno.  Cook, stirring frequently, for about 5 minutes, until the peppers are tender.  Add the tomato, thyme and bay leaf, and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until the mixture looks dry, about 10 minutes.

2. Add the coconut milk, stirring to combine.  Reduce heat to medium; continue to cook until the coconut milk is reduced by one-quarter and the sauce is slightly thickened, about 15 minutes.  Season to taste with salt.

3. Ad the fish to the simmering sauce and cook until just done, about 3 to 5 minutes (the fish will start to flake apart as you stir).  Gently stir in the dende oil and the cilantro leaves, reserving a few for garnish.  Serve immediately.

Serves 2 very hungry people or 3 less hungry people.

This week I made one of my very favorite cookies evar.  The way the nuttiness of the oatmeal combines with the sweetiness of the chocolate and the cranberries and the whole thing takes on a toffee-esque flavor is just delicious.  I think I’ve eaten five in the last two days.  >.<

Anyway, the department apparently got a kick out of them.  I even got fan mail from the administrative assistant!

CHOCOLATE-CHUNK OATMEAL COOKIES WITH DRIED CRANBERRIES

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (6 1/4 ounces)
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon table salt
• 2 1/4 cups rolled oats, old-fashioned, (6 1/3 ounces)
• 1 cup dried cranberries (5 ounces)
• 4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped into chunks about size of chocolate chips (about 3/4 cup)
• 12 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 1/2 sticks), softened but still cool
• 1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar (10 1/2 ounces), preferably dark
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS:

1. Adjust oven racks to upper- and lower-middle positions; heat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 large (18 by 12-inch) baking sheets with parchment paper.

2. Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in medium bowl. In second medium bowl, stir together oats, cranberries, and chocolate.

3. In standing mixer fitted with flat beater, beat butter and sugar at medium speed until no sugar lumps remain, about 1 minute. Scrape down sides of bowl with rubber spatula; add egg and vanilla and beat on medium-low speed until fully incorporated, about 30 seconds. Scrape down bowl; with mixer running at low speed, add flour mixture; mix until just combined, about 30 seconds. With mixer still running on low, gradually add oat mixture; mix until just incorporated. Give dough final stir with rubber spatula to ensure that no flour pockets remain and ingredients are evenly distributed.

4. Divide dough evenly into 30-32 portions, each about 2 tablespoons, then roll between palms into balls about 2 inches in diameter; stagger 8 balls on each baking sheet, spacing them about 2 1/2 inches apart. Using hands, gently press each dough ball to 1 inch thickness. Bake both baking sheets 7 minutes, rotate them front to back and top to bottom, then continue to bake until cookies are medium brown and edges have begun to set but centers are still soft (cookies will seem underdone and will appear raw, wet, and shiny in cracks), 4 to 6 minutes longer. Do not overbake.

5. Cool cookies on baking sheets on wire rack 5 minutes; using wide metal spatula, transfer cookies to wire rack and cool to room temperature.

The steak and chimichurri was good, but the quinoa was absolutely incredible.  If you haven’t experimented with this grain, I highly recommend it.  Quinoa was the major “grain” crop of the Inka empire (it’s actually a seed), and it made its way to the US about 20 years ago.  The National Academy of Science calls it one of the best vegetable sources of protein out there.  On top of that, it’s absolutely delicious and easy to prepare.  If you haven’t experimented with this grain, I highly recommend it.  Usually I find the flavor of cumin slightly overpowering, but in this application it was mellowed by the red pepper and saffron flavors.  If you’re not that adventurous, you could probably make the exact same dish but substitute cous-cous.

Chimichurri courtesy of Cook’s Illustrated, quinoa via It’s All American Food, by David Rosengarten.

CHIMICHURRI  (ARGENTINIAN-STYLE FRESH PARSLEY AND GARLIC SAUCE)

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 cup packed fresh parsley leaves from one large bunch, washed and dried
• 5 medium cloves garlic, peeled
• 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
• 2 tablespoons water
• 1/4 cup red onion, finely minced
• 1 teaspoon table salt
• 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

DIRECTIONS:

Process parsley and garlic in workbowl of food processor fitted with steel blade, stopping as necessary to scrape down sides of bowl with rubber spatula, until garlic and parsley are chopped fine (20 one-second pulses); transfer to medium bowl. Whisk in remaining ingredients until thoroughly blended. Spoon about 2 tablespoons over each steak and serve. (Sauce tastes best when used fresh but can be refrigerated, with plastic wrap pressed directly on surface, up to 3 days.)

Makes 1 very generous cup

SAFFRON-SCENTED QUINOA

INGREDIENTS:

• 1/2 teaspoon saffron threads
• 1 2/3 cup chicken broth, hot
• 1 cup quinoa, rinsed
• 1 tbs. olive oil
• 1 cup minced onion
• 2 tsp. minced garlic
• 1 tsp. lightly toasted cumin seeds
• 1/2 cup diced red bell pepper
• 1 bay leaf
• 3 tbs. minced cilantro leaves

DIRECTIONS:

1. Steep saffron seeds in hot chicken broth for 10 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, pour olive oil into a saucepan over medium heat; add onion and cook for 4 or 5 minutes until softened.  Add quinoa, garlic, and cumin seeds; cook, stirring, for 1 minute.  Add the saffron and chicken broth, red pepper, and bay leaf.  Season to taste with salt.  Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and cover, for 15 minutes.  Remove from heat and let sit, covered, for 5 more minutes.  Stir in cilantro and serve immediately.

Makes 4 or 6 side-dish servings

I hereby declare this week’s theme, as per Anton’s request, to be South American food (I feel like the Chairman from Iron Chef)!  Stand by for Latin dishes from Peru, Brazil, Argentina, and Chile!

Tortellini with Roasted Broccoli and Basil Vinaigrette (thanks to Cook’s Illustrated)

INGREDIENTS:

• 6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh basil
• 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1 shallot, minced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• table salt and ground black pepper
• 1 lb. broccoli, florets and stalk cut into bite-sized pieces
• (9-ounce) packages fresh cheese tortellini
• 1/4 cup pine nuts (optional)
• 1 pint grape tomatoes or cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1 ounce parmesan cheese, grated (1/2 cup)

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 450. Whisk the olive oil, basil, lemon juice, shallot, garlic, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper together in a bowl large enough to hold the pasta salad.

2. Roast the broccoli pieces, stirring occasionally, until a majority of the pieces have become golden brown around the edges.

3. Meanwhile, bring a medium pot of water and some salt to a boil, add the tortellini, and cook until tender, following the package instructions. Drain the tortellini thoroughly, then toss while hot with the broccoli and dressing. Refrigerate until chilled, about 30 minutes.

4. If using, toast the pine nuts in a small skillet over medium heat until golden and fragrant, about 5 minutes. Just before serving, stir the toasted pine nuts, tomatoes, and Parmesan into the salad and season with salt and pepper.